Vitality County Championship 2024 Round 4, Day 3 - April 28th - Live Cricket Streaming, Latest Scores, Match Reports – All Matches – Division 1 and 2

Here are all the latest scores, match reports and news for the Vitality County Championship Round 4 April 26th – 29th 2024.

Sunday 28th April 2024

Division 1

Durham vs Essex, 16th Match, Vitality County Championship Division One

Durham’s Vitality County Championship match against Essex seems likely to end in a draw after rain wiped out the third day of the match at the Seat Unique Riverside.

Drizzle set in a couple of hours before the scheduled start of play and there were soon puddles on the outfield at Chester-le-Street. It was no surprise when the umpires, David Millns and Rob White pulled the plug on the day’s play at 3.30

When cricket resumes on the final morning, Essex will be 314 for three in reply to Durham’s 358. Initial interest will centre on whether Nick Browne can score the six runs he needs for his century but the next dozen overs is likely to become a battle for bonus points and, barring the home side collapsing, it is difficult to see how a positive result can be obtained on the final day    

Surrey vs Hampshire, 17th Match, Vitality County Championship Division One

Hampshire lived to fight another day against champions Surrey at the Kia Oval, but are still facing heavy defeat after losing three top-order wickets in the 32 overs eventually bowled in south London following overnight and early morning rain.

Resuming 177 runs behind at 31 for two in their second innings, Hampshire slid further to 116 for five on the shortened third day of their Vitality County Championship fixture – still a deficit of 92.

James Vince and Tom Prest were dismissed within four balls of each other after resisting for 20 overs in a gritty 46-run stand following the early loss of Nick Gubbins, caught in the cordon off Dan Worrall.

Prest, dropped head-high by Ollie Pope at second slip off Gus Atkinson on 22, had added only a single when he fell for 23 – this time caught in front of his face by Pope as he pushed hard at a ball from Atkinson that shaped away from its original line just outside off stump.

And then former England Test batsman Vince, who reached 26 after resuming on four not out, was beaten by an in-swinger from Kemar Roach and departed leg-before to leave Hampshire’s second innings in real trouble at 87 for five.

Surrey’s reaction to his dismissal underlined just how important they felt getting the Hampshire captain out was after Vince had punctuated some assiduous defence with a number of quality strokes, including an early clipped four off his pads off Jordan Clark and a lovely back foot force to the square cover boundary off Atkinson.

Vince had also showed grit following some on-field attention from the Hampshire physio after being struck a glancing blow on the shoulder by a vicious Atkinson lifter when on 21.

Ironically, given the early gloom of the day, most of the single session had been played in bright sunshine but the Oval floodlights were on by the time Liam Dawson, on 18 not out, and Ben Brown, unbeaten on seven, saw out the final overs with Surrey’s seamers still very much on top.

Play had finally begun at 4.30pm after heavy overnight rain had ruled out any prospect of cricket before lunch and then further light showers in early afternoon had delayed further mopping up operations.

But it took Worrall only ten balls to add to his overnight scalp of Ali Orr, with Gubbins edging one angled across him to second slip, where Pope fell to his right to scoop up a fine low catch.

Gubbins, out for 10, had added only four runs and Prest was beaten first up by a brute of a delivery from Worrall, which lifted and left him, when he came in on a king pair.

To his credit, though, Prest knuckled down and was soon into double figures with driven fours off Clark and Worrall as he and Vince did their best, for over an hour, to defy Surrey’s four-pronged pace attack.

 

Warwickshire vs Nottinghamshire, 18th Match, Vitality County Championship Division One

Worcestershire vs Somerset, Match 19, Vitality County Championship Division One

Gareth Roderick’s first century of the campaign handed Worcestershire the ascendancy after England spinner Shoaib Bashir brought about a mini collapse on day three of the Vitality County Championship match with Somerset at Kidderminster.

Roderick mixed determined defence with aggressive stroke-play in helping Worcestershire earn a first innings lead of 142

His partnership of 194 with Jake Libby was the bedrock of Worcestershire securing four batting bonus points.

Bashir had enjoyed a quiet start to the season after his 17 wickets in his opening three Tests in India with two wickets in matches against Surrey at The Oval and Nottinghamshire at Taunton.

But he settled into a good rhythm on a wicket offering some turn, removed Libby and Kashif Ali in quick succession and asked questions of all the batters during a 28 over spell.

Somerset were left three overs batting and Jason Holder made an early breakthrough in dismissing Sean Dickson.

The Libby-Roderick stand was another example of the excellent partnership they have forged since the latter was promoted to open after five games of last season.

Libby again batted with great authority before being dismissed three runs short of his second ton of the season.

He is in prime form and has amassed 349 runs so far this summer at an average of 69.80.

Contributions down the order from Adam Hose, Club Captain Brett D’Oliveira and Joe Leach ensured Worcestershire pushed home their advantage.

Sterling work by the ground-staff meant play was able to get underway at 12.10pm after heavy overnight rain with only 10 of the possible 96 overs lost.

Worcestershire resumed on 107 for one with Libby and Roderick’s stand so far worth 84.

The century stand was completed from 177 balls and both batters looked relatively comfortable and scored freely.

Roderick brought up his half century from 115 balls with one of the shots of the morning, a back foot square drive for his eighth four at Kasey Aldridge’s expense.

Roderick was fortunate to inside edge Migael Pretorious for four during a probing spell.

Libby looked set to reach three figures but the introduction of spin in the form of Bashir led to his downfall.

He went to drive a delivery which turned and came back in and was bowled. His 189 ball knock contained 16 boundaries.

Bashir struck again when the in form Kashif Ali, who had struck him for six over long on, played back to another delivery which spun back in and was plumb lbw.

A third wicket in quick succession fell when Rob Jones played forward and was comprehensively bowled for a second ball duck to give Pretorious a deserved scalp.

Adam Hose went on the offensive from the start of his innings and his first seven scoring shots were boundaries.

He raced to 39 and accelerated Worcestershire towards three batting bonus points before he nicked Ball to wide first slip.

Roderick brought up his century in the final over before the second new ball was taken with a quick single to mid on off Bashir.

He had time to strike Bashir for a straight six before on 122 attempting to hit Ball over the top and picking out mid off.

Jason Holder (12) went lbw to Lewis Gregory playing back and Matthew Waite (5) was bowled aiming a big hit off the same bowler.

But D’Oliveira, completing his first half century of the summer, and Leach batted with purpose and intent to lift the total past 400 and the four points.

Their stand was worth 84 in 16 overs when D’Oliveira was caught behind off Aldridge and declared.

But there was still time for Holder to have Roderick caught behind by that man Roderick.

Division 2

Gloucestershire vs Middlesex, 13th Match, Vitality County Championship Division Two

Centuries from Max Holden and Ryan Higgins dug Middlesex out of a hole on the third day of the Vitality County Championship Second Division match with Gloucestershire at Bristol.

Having conceded a first innings lead of 119 by bowling out their opponents for 322 from an overnight 271 for six, the visitors slipped to nine for two in their second innings before Holden (105 not out), Leus du Plooy (30) and Higgins (102 not out) launched a powerful fightback.

By the close, Middlesex had posted 262 for three, Holden and Higgins sharing an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 183, and had a lead of 143, leaving all three results possible on the final day. Holden had faced 157 balls, hitting 14 fours and a six, while Higgins smashed 13 fours and 3 sixes in facing 120 deliveries against his former club.

Middlesex needed to make good use of the second new ball, available when play began an hour late due because of overnight rain,, to restrict Gloucestershire’s first innings lead on the hybrid pitch offering more bounce than usual at the Seat Unique Stadium.

Ben Charlesworth, batting with Ollie Price as runner because of an ankle injury sustained on day one, produced two textbook straight drives off Tom Helm, while Zaman Akhter exploited the cover region.

The pair had extended their seventh-wicket stand to 71 when with Akhter, on 27, tried one drive too many and was bowled by Helm failing to get to the pitch of a good length delivery. It proved Middlesex’s only success in the hour before lunch, which was reached with Gloucestershire 314 for seven, 111 runs in front.

The hosts were unable to build at the start of the afternoon session as Henry Brookes struck three times in an over. Charlesworth started the slide attempting a big hit and only skying to mid-off where Holden took a fine tumbling catch.

Marchant de Lange swung in trademark fashion and also skied a catch off his third ball, wicketkeeper Jack Davies taking the catch, before Dom Goodman edged a catch to third slip to end the innings

Soon Gloucestershire’s seamers were making inroads on a much livelier pitch than they have been used to operating on in home games. Nathan Fernandes had made only five when caught at mid-wicket pulling a short ball from Goodman.

It was nine for two when Mark Stoneman departed for a duck, caught behind driving at a wide delivery from Ajeet Singh Dale and du Plooy came in to face a testing examination, edging his first ball from Singh Dale just short of the slip cordon.

In one over from Akhter, the Middlesex skipper needed treatment after being hit on a hand and was then struck again by the first delivery after resuming his innings. Another over from the same bowler saw him survive three confident lbw appeals.

Holden defiantly pulled de Lange for four then six as he and du Plooy gradually doused the Gloucestershire fire. But having helped take the total to 66 for two at tea, they added only 13 more before du Plooy, who had drawn applause from the bowler when hitting de Lange back over his head for a huge six, was brilliantly caught by Chris Dent at backward point to give Goodman a second wicket.

Holden moved to a priceless half-century, off 83 balls, and together with Higgins, took Middlesex into the lead with seven wickets still in hand. Momentum was now with the batting side and when spin was introduced the pair first milked singles off Graeme van Buuren to increase the scoring rate and then went on the attack, Higgins hitting Price for a six and a four in the same over.

The sun was out and all venom had gone out of the bowling as Higgins marked his return to a former stamping ground by bringing up a chanceless fifty off 73 balls. On 62, he was dropped by van Buuren at mid-wicket off Price

Holden reached his ton off 151 balls, with 13 fours and a six and Higgins followed to three figures with a pulled six off Singh Dale. Now Middlesex will fancy their chances of a last day declaration and an improbably victory.

 

 

Leicestershire vs Northamptonshire, 14th Match, Vitality County Championship Division Two

Northamptonshire’s hopes of turning a strong position into a first victory of their Vitality County Championship suffered a setback when heavy rain removed any prospect of play on Day Three of their Division Two match against Leicestershire in Leicester.

Heavy rain overnight persisting into the morning left large areas of the playing area under water at the Uptonsteel County Ground and with no break in the weather forecast until the afternoon, umpires Ben Debenham and Jack Shantry called off play for the day almost an hour before the scheduled 11am start time.  Only 37.1 overs had been possible on Saturday because of rain and bad light.

Northamptonshire are 356 runs ahead with Leicestershire 97 for two in reply to the visitors’ 453 for seven declared. Both sides are looking for a first win of the season after drawing their opening three matches.

The prospects for an uninterrupted last day are good but unless Northamptonshire can bowl Leicestershire out twice or reach an agreement with the home side to set up a fourth-innings run chase, another draw looks the likeliest outcome.

Yorkshire vs Derbyshire, 15th Match, Vitality County Championship Division Two

There was no play possible due to rain on day three of the Vitality County Championship clash between Yorkshire and Derbyshire at Headingley today. 

Rain arrived in the Leeds area overnight and continued through the morning, with puddles gathered across the outfield.

Umpires Martin Saggers and Hassan Adnan called play off for the day at 12.45pm when it had actually stopped raining. But the amount of water on the outfield left it unplayable.

Had play started, Derbyshire would have resumed on 190 for three in their first-innings reply to Yorkshire’s 450 for five declared. 

Wayne Madsen with 88 and Brooke Guest 74 had shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 167 unbroken to recover the visitors from 23 for three - a Derbyshire record for that wicket on this ground. 

This day three abandonment means a draw is now highly likely given the amount of time left in this third round Division Two fixture. 

Neither team have yet registered a win in this season’s Championship.

Derbyshire’s Luis Reece said: 

 

(On the challenge of bowling to Root and Brook).

 

“It’s nice to bowl at these blokes - you want to test yourself. 

“I felt like I bowled well to Root, but it was Brook I struggled with. He put me under a lot of pressure and took a liking to my bowling. 

“You know what cricket’s like, you can come across certain batters which suit your style and others who don’t. It’s visa versa when you bat. 

“Your margin for error is a lot smaller. The way England have played, it’s been about that - putting the bowlers under pressure. Harry’s thriving as a cricketer under that. Joe, his stats speak for themselves. He’s one of England’s best ever players.

“You want to test yourself, and you want to get a buzz out of doing it. Otherwise, what’s the point in being out here. 

“I’ve always been someone who wanted to test my skills at the highest possible level and against the best players. No matter how old I get, I’ll always look to get better whilst I’m playing. That’s my drive - to enjoy it and put big performances in against big players. 

“You just have to put enough balls in the right area to ask questions. 

“On a whole, yesterday we came back well after a tough day one and bowled better for longer periods of time. 

“That was massively important because we haven’t started the season the way we’d like. So, hopefully, we can use this as a bit of a launchpad when you’ve played against three of the best batters in the division in Shan (Masood), Joe and Harry.

“If you can get confidence from that, hopefully you can take it forwards into the other games.”

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